Arthropods of various species are increasingly cultured on a commercial scale. Insects and their grubs are nutritious and are eaten both raw and cooked in many cultures. Crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns are farmed on a large commercial scale and are an important part of the human diet. In addition to the culture of arthropod species for food, arthropods are also cultured as part of pest management strategies, including for the biological control of other arthropods, for example the culture parasitic wasps for the control of roaches and fire ants. Arthropods may also serve as the source of raw materials such as dyes, drugs, medicines, and antibiotics. Growing with the increasing importance of arthropod culture, are various pests and parasites that destroy the arthropod colonies or greatly reduce the yields of products obtained from arthropod culture. Accordingly, there is an increasing need for methods to control arthropod pests and parasites.
Among the most important species of cultured arthropods is the honey bee. Honey bees, Apis mellifera, are required for the effective pollination of crops and are therefore critical to world agriculture. Honey bees also produce economically important products, including honey and bees wax. Honey bees are susceptible to a number of parasites and pathogens, including the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor. 
Varroa (Varroa destructor) mites are the number one parasite of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera) and the biggest global threat to commercial beekeeping (Rosenkranz et al. 2010). An adult mite typically enters the worker and drone brood cells before they are capped, primed by honeybee brood pheromone. The mite submerges into the brood food that the bees put inside the cell in anticipation of capping, most probably to avoid being recognized and removed by nurse bees. Following capping of the brood cells by the nurse bees, the mite adheres to the larva and starts to ingest bee larval hemolymph. This process primes oogenesis in the mites, and is followed several days later in laying of male and female eggs. Eventually, the adult Varroa exit the cell and cling onto the emerging bees. Varroa directly damages the honeybees in multiple ways, most notably by draining resources, adversely affecting the innate honey bee immune system, and by being a very effective vector of viruses (Di Prisco et al. 2011), some of which are known to replicate in the mite, thus dramatically increasing the viral load.
A safe, efficacious and long-lasting solution to the Varroa problem is an ongoing challenge that has yet to be met. Currently, beekeepers use a plethora of methods to control Varroa levels that include various chemical miticides, most of which have lost efficacy and are toxic and/or leave residues in wax and honey. Other methods include application of oxalic or formic acid, monoterpenes (thymol) and a variety of other management practices, with highly variable outcomes, including toxicity to the treated colonies. Breeding of bees for resistance to Varroa, such as selection for Hygienic behavior which results in the removal of infested brood, has provided a limited practical success.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) of honeybees is threatening to annihilate U.S. and world agriculture. Indeed, in the recent outbreak of CCD in the U. S in the winter of 2006-2007, an estimated 25% or more of the 2.4 million honeybee hives were lost because of CCD. An estimated 23% of beekeeping operations in the United States suffered from CCD over the winter of 2006-2007, affecting an average of 45% of the beekeepers operations. In the winter of 2007-2008, the CCD action group of the USDA-ARS estimated that a total of 36% of all hives from commercial operations were destroyed by CCD.
CCD is characterized by the rapid loss from a colony of its adult bee population, with dead adult bees usually found at a distance from the colony. At the final stages of collapse, a queen is attended only by a few newly emerged adult bees. Collapsed colonies often have considerable capped brood and food reserves. The phenomenon of CCD was first reported in 2006; however, beekeepers noted unique colony declines consistent with CCD as early as 2004. Various factors such as mites and infectious agents, weather patterns, electromagnetic (cellular antennas) radiation, pesticides, poor nutrition and stress have been postulated as causes. To date, control of CCD has focused on Varroa mite control, sanitation and removal of affected hives, treating for opportunistic infections (such as Nosema) and improved nutrition. No effective preventative measures have been developed to date.
Varroa mites parasitize pupae and adult bees and reproduce in the pupal brood cells. The mites use their mouths to puncture the exoskeleton and feed on the bee's hemolymph. These wound sites in the exoskeleton harbor bacterial infections, such as Melissococcus pluton, which causes European foulbrood. In addition, to their parasitic effects, Varroa mites are suspected of acting as vectors for a number of honey bee pathogens, including deformed wing virus (DWV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and black queen cell virus (BQCV), and may weaken the immune systems of their hosts, leaving them vulnerable to infections. If left untreated Varroa infestations typically result in colony-level mortality.
Current methods of treating Varroa infestations are proving to be ineffective as the mites develop resistance to existing miticides. In addition, the use of such miticides may introduce injurious chemicals into honey that is intended for human consumption.